Two powerful earthquakes struck Turkey on Monday, collapsing buildings in dozens of cities and killing thousands of people in the south of the country and in northern Syria. The first quake, of 7.8 magnitude at 4:17 a.m. local time, was felt as far away as Lebanon and Israel.
Area affected by the initial earthquake
Shake intensity
Mediterranean Sea
Area of
detail
Severe
shaking
Mediterranean Sea
Area of
detail
Source: U.S. Geological Survey Note: Based on assessment as of 1:00 a.m. E.S.T. on Feb. 6.
Just nine hours later, a second major quake, of 7.5 magnitude, hit on the same fault line, about 60 miles north of the first, according to the U.S.G.S.
Area affected by the second earthquake
Shake intensity
Very Strong
Mediterranean Sea
Area of
detail
Severe
shaking
Mediterranean Sea
Area of
detail
Source: U.S. Geological Survey Note: Based on assessment as of 8:00 a.m. E.S.T. on Feb. 6.
Extent of the destruction in Turkey
The earthquakes were both centered in southern Turkey. Buildings were destroyed in at least 14 cities, according to images of the aftermath, although the full extent of the damage was still unknown.
Shake intensity of first quake
Diyarbakir
Iskenderun
Epicenter of first quake
Diyarbakir
Iskenderun
Epicenter of first quake
Diyarbakir
Epicenter of first quake
Iskenderun
Almost 3,000 buildings collapsed across Turkey alone after the initial quake, officials in the country said, and at least 5,000 people were injured.
Malatya, Turkey
Ihlas News Agency (Iha)/Reuters
The governor of Malatya, a province near the epicenter, said that hundreds of buildings had collapsed. In the provincial capital, home to half a million people, images showed snow falling on the debris, adding to the difficulty of rescue.
Before and after photos show how the quake gutted the historic Yeni Mosque and leveled a major hotel and a large apartment building.
Yeni Mosque
Feb. 6, 2023
Volkan Kasik/Anadolu Agency, via Getty Images
Hotel Avsar
Trend Garden Residence
Feb. 6, 2023
Depo Photos via Reuters
Gaziantep, Turkey
A castle that dates back thousands of years was severely damaged in Gaziantep, near the epicenter of the initial quake.
Gaziantep Castle
Feb. 6, 2023
Obtained by Reuters
Gaziantep is also home to around half a million Syrian refugees. Turkey hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world, 3.6 million, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which runs one of its largest operations from Gaziantep.
Diyarbakir, Turkey
Large residential buildings were turned into rubble in Diyarbakir, the biggest Kurdish city in the world and the unofficial capital of Turkey’s eastern Kurdish regions.
Deniz Tekin/EPA, via Shutterstock
Sanliurfa, Turkey
Videos from two different angles capture the moment a building collapsed in Sanliurfa, Turkey.
Damage in Syria
In Syria, the earthquakes hit the country’s war-ravaged north. Hundreds were killed in the cities of Aleppo, Hama, Latakia and Tartus, according to the Syrian Health Ministry. Damage was seen in at least 16 Syrian cities in total.
Shake intensity of first quake
Infrastructure across Syria was already in a fragile state after years of airstrikes and bombardments, leaving many buildings unable to withstand the earthquake or dozens of aftershocks.
Aleppo, Syria
Aleppo, the country’s largest city, is a shadow of its former self, throttled by power outages, a fuel crisis and high unemployment.
Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Northwest of Aleppo, photos showed residents retrieving a girl from the rubble in the rural town of Jandaris.
Rami Al Sayed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
The White Helmets, members of a volunteer-based civil defense group that operates in areas of Syria outside government control, have been rescuing trapped civilians in the northwestern corner of the country. They have reported over 100 deaths in the region.
